Elements of Peace
by Ahha 'Vahatee
Summary: After a failed stunt transports the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty into the world of ancient China, AppleJack and Rainbow Dash will have to learn, fight, make new friends and battle old enemies to protect the Valley of Peace, and if they ever hope to return home! Rated M for Language, Violence, Nudity, and citrus. Not exactly lemon (It ain't a porno!) TigerXApple, ViperXDash.
1. Before the storm

Elements of Peace

Chapter 1:

Before the Storm

Through the eyes of AppleJack:

I gazed up at the stars for the hundredth time that night, contemplating the best, most agonizing punishments that I could deal out to Rainbow for dragging me out here. Here she is, waking Twilight just so that SHE could teleport to Sweet Apple Acres, wake up ME up, and tell me that DASH wants to show me something. Unless that mare had somethin' pretty buckin' important to show me, I was gonna kill her. Even then, I still might. Element of Loyalty be damned...

After much persuasion I had finally been able to convince Twilight to stay and sleep in my bed for the night. Though I was half tempted to just turn around and join her (Shut the buck up.), I couldn't help but feel that I should give RD a few more minutes. I was a hair away from leavin' when I heard the familiar flap of Pegasus wings.

"AJ! I'm so glad you made it!" I stifled a groan before turning to face her, just as her hooves touched down. "We're only in the South Orchard. Ya know, ten minutes from the house? Ain't much point in not showin'."

The cyan Pegasus furrowed her brow as she smiled embarrassingly. "Right, of course..." She seemed slightly distracted, but then again, that was how Rainbow was acting an awful lot lately. I shrugged it off as my patience began to waver. "Now what in tarnation is so important that it couldn't wait seven more hours till light?"

She apparently remembered as her wings fluttered in excitement -reminding me somewhat of a hummingbird- as her grin grew to ridiculous proportions. "Ohohoh! I wanted to show you an awesome stunt!" As she stressed the word _awesome_, I couldn't help but stress my patience... to the breaking point.

"A stunt? You dragged me outta bed at half past midnight... for a stunt!?" I felt sorta bad yellin' at the poor mare, but my "Element", demanded that I give my honest opinion on the matter. "You woke Twi up, sent _ HER _to _MY _house, had the _AUDASITY _to keep me waiting for _over an HOUR, FOR A STUPID STUNT!?_" Either she was as out of it as I was, or she really deemed that her trick was worth the shoutin', because she simple closed her eyes, grinned proudly, and nodded once absolutely.

I was thus placed in the hugest bewilderment of my young-adult life. Aaaand, havin' no more metal in my blood, I simply plopped down on my plot and groaned. After several minutes of sitting there, eyes shut and head bowed, I felt a gentle hoof brush the loose strands from my pony-tail (And I mean my mane.) over my shoulder. Risking a glance up, I noticed Rainbow fiddling with my hat, doin' who-knows-what.

Raising my head up with a hoof, she smiled. Mind you, not her usual proud, dauntless, or reckless smiles, but one of her more rare, small comforting smiles. Most could easily mistake it for a smirk, but I knew better. It was her, 'it'll be alright, I'm here', smile that I had grown to love. It was a sign of how truly loyal she was.

"You wanna see my trick?" She said in a much softer voice, one that only I knew she was capable of.

I gave her a soft nod and a gentle smile in response, one which made her grin hugely again. Trotting over to a nearby tree, not much bigger than a sapling (We had it transferred just that week from Cousin Braeburn's farm over in Appleloosa.), I sat against it.

"So, what'cha got for me Dashie?" I was able to elicit a small blush, just barely visible in the moonlight, from Rainbow. "What's with the old nickname?" She countered.

"Well, it's after midnight, we're alone... I thought it was fittin'." She seemed pensive, then guilty, followed by determined. "Jackie... er, AppleJack. We agreed that we wouldn't do this again. And we've been doing good for this long, let's not backslide now."

I sighed. She was right, we did agree to break off our relationship over six months ago. It had been hard, but we kept to it. For Twi and Fluttershy's sakes. Twilight was too... Conservative for that, whereas Fluttershy was just too lighthearted, and well, too innocent to understand. Now Twilight did know, and she was understanding, but despite her best efforts her upbringing just seemed to drive an invisible wedge between us.

And so we broke it off, which was followed by much protest from Twilight, saying that she would never forgive herself (or us, for that matter) if we were simply separating for her sake. And no matter how much we assured her that we had debated and agreed, she even now seemed to hold herself responsible. Poor mare...

I shook the saddening thoughts from my head as Rainbow gave me one last reassuring smile, before backing up and settling into her take-off stance. "Try to keep your eyes on me." She smirked, then added, "If you can that is." Before she bolted up into the sky. She was right, I almost couldn't keep my eyes on her. She flew so high that the only way that I was able to spot her, was because she appeared as a faint black dot in contrast to the full moon.

She paused for a moment hovering in space, before angling herself downward, and shot down toward earth. The speed with which sh flew was enough to cause a Sonic Rainboom almost instantly, forcing me to shield my eyes with a hoof from the onslaught of bright color. Had I not shielded my eyes, I would have noticed that Rainbow Dash was losing control of her decent, while still managing to gain speed.

More importantly, I would have noticed her heading straight for me. Even MORE importantly, I would have notice the strange multi-color aura beginning to envelope her. Because almost as soon as she got a foot from me, low-and-behold, another Sonic Rainboom.

But this was different. How? Because this formed a multicolor bubble around us, where time seemed to stand still. I could see Dash, right in front of me, mid tumble, her beautiful cyan returning to her coat, with a look of pure shock plastered on her features. I couldn't move as everything faded away around us, couldn't even make a sound. And the pained look in Rainbow's eyes told me that she was experiencing the same problem.

It was then that the darkness began to take me, my consciousness slowly fadin' from me. And all too soon, I lost sight of Rainbow Dash's beautiful magenta eyes.

oo.0.o.

After who-knows how long, my senses began to eep back into me; vision blurry, hearin' muffled, and my muscles stiff and sore all over. For some reason I could have swore that I smelled something familiar, what is it that Rarity calls it? Sandalwood? Yeah, that sounds right.

After a few minutes of pain, I attempted to focus enough to study my surroundings, resulting in a massive headache. I raised a hoof to my head in protest, but was shocked when I couldn't see it. My hoof was gone! And all I could see was a strange thing that somewhat resembled Spike's claws. Wait a minute, what was Lyra always rambling on about? Creatures with things called 'arms' and 'Hands' which closely resembled the appendage in my hoof's place.

Shaking the dizziness and pain from my head, I attempted to stand, only to fall from a harsh realization: My back legs were longer. Or my newfound 'arms' were shorter. But I didn't have the correct balance anymore, so I tried somethin' else. Rearing up, I threw my weight back, and tried to balance on just my back legs (Which, luckily, where still hooves.), and found myself successful. With my newfound balance intact, I decided to try to walk, slowly, but steadily. Again, easier than I had anticipated.

My joy was cut short when my eyes fell upon the crumpled form of Rainbow dash. Not thinking anymore, I ran over to he and knelt beside her, lifting her head in my hands. She was still breathin', allowing me to let out a sigh of relief. Overall she appeared uninjured, which was good, but I also noticed some strange details about her new body.

She was Bipedal, same as me, and while she still had back hooves, her legs were definitely longer. As well, her arms were thin, but toned, smoothly curved with the lean muscle of an athlete, whereas her hands were small, much more so than mine. She still had her wings (She'll be ecstatic.), and her face didn't look any different, with her muzzle still small and impish, and her mane still multi-colored.

I the time it took for me to note all this, she had apparently woken up, and was staring right at me. Or rather, at my new chest. "Hey AJ, what are those?"

I glanced down to where she was pointing, and sure enough, I had two, round, plump breasts. Out of sheer curiosity, I glanced at the spot between my legs, finding only one of three things.

"Um, sugarcube? I believe those are mah teats..." After having them widen in realization, she averted her eyes while a deep blush crept across her cheeks. And me being the innovative pony I am, I simple took my hat off and covered my chest (Extremely glad I still had that).

After looking her body over closely, I found that both her breasts were placed the same way as mine, except hers were smaller and virtually non-existent compared to mine. So, again, being smart, I removed the red bandana from around my neck, and tied it around Dash's small torso (Yes, it's a big bandana, yes Dash is thin, she's a pegasus. Ya know, hollow bones?).

After that was taken care of, and I had given Rainbow instructions on how to walk and use her hands, as well as reassure her that her wings were intact, we decided to set off in search of help. And due to the foreign nature of the forest we were in, I'd say that we weren't anywhere near Ponyville.

In fact, one could say that we weren't even in Equestria. And we were about to find out just how right we were.

**AJ: Hey ya'll! Thanks a bunch f'r readin' our little adventures-**

**RD: Yeah! We really appreciate it! Though it's not unexpexted, we are pretty awesome.**

**AJ:... Thank you for that. Now, as I was sayin', if ya'll are readin' this, it means that HOPEFULLY we made it back to Equestria at some point.**

**RD: Yeah... But it also means that we're not there currently to tell you ourselves.**

**AJ: So, if'n ya'll have got somethin to say, just leave us a comment.**

**RD: We'll be happy to reply when we return.**

**AJ+RD: See ya!**


	2. Falcon BuckShoppingFirst Fight

Elements of Peace

Chapter 1.5:

Falcon Buck!/Shopping/First Fight

Through the eyes of Rainbow Dash:

After AJ had been so kind to wake me up, my guess unintentionally, she was kind enough to cover her recently moved 'femdoms', as well as tie her bandana around my chest. Though if I'm honest, I was slightly disappointed by the sheer contrast between our 'girl sizes'. And after teaching me the ropes on walking(!?), I felt once again indebted to her. I mean, teaching me to walk? Could I be more pathetic?

Anyway... once we had gotten ourselves together, we thought it best if we found the nearest road or, if possible, town. Luckily for us, Jackie was able to find some large (non-poisonous), leaves, as well as some rather soft plant stuff (I'm not even going to guess, but let's just say it resembled string), and fashioned some coverings for us. That way I didn't have to wear an extremely tight bandana, and she didn't have to hold her hat in front of her chest. In the end we looked like Amazon Ponies, wearing plant-based tube-tops and loincloths.

Not the most appealing, when in terms of modesty. I wish Rarity was here.

I'm not sure how long we walked, several hours I'm sure, until finally, we found a clearing. And more beautiful than anything in the world (Except maybe AJ), a road. Naturally, we made an all-out sprint for the dirt path, only to be surprised at what we found. Tracks. Of course tracks are gonna be on the road, but these weren't just any ol' tracks. They were _livestock_ tracks, you know, cows, pigs, geese, and the like. Except that the way that they were spaced suggested that they walked on two legs, like we were.

"Do ya think that ponies might not be the dominant species?" AppleJack just shrugged with an inquisitive look plastered across her face. "Maybe not, but Ah reckon we'll find out sooner or later." Then, with a final nod, she followed the general flow of the tracks, with me right at her heels.

We didn't have to walk long, because not an hour after we began did we hear voices coming from just around the bend, along with the sound of fear and destruction. And peeking around the bend, we caught sight something of nothing short of infuriating.

At least a dozen or so alligators(Maybe crocodiles?), again, standing on two legs, wearing armored pants and wielding sword and spears, robbing a couple of pigs and geese surrounding a tipped over wagon. All of them ready to kill.

AppleJack's POV:

Naturally. The first sign of life that we encounter, and it happens to be an armed robbery. Oh well, not the worst thing that's happened. I've been in one or two scuffles with thieves before, and I was proud to say that I could hold my own. Glancing over at Dash, I smirked when I saw her cracking her knuckles. This would be fun.

We ducked into the more heavily wooded side of the road, just to our right, and crept slowly closer to the over-turned cart. I glanced at Rainbow and gave her a nod. With a cold smile she took off into the air, breaking the treeline and staying in front of the sun, out of sight. Waiting until the right moment to advance, I leaned back on my haunches and watched. The lead croc seamed fairly agitated and was yelling something about how his group was so hard to work with, and that the citizens could make it much easier if they just handed over their gold, all the while swinging his sword around madly. It wasn't until he pointed the tip of his blade at the poor travelers did I feel that he was a real threat.

Stepping from the brush, I made myself known. "Now partner, how's 'bout you put that there fancy kitchen knife away, before somebody gets hurt. Those things ain't toys ya know." I said with a slight smirk, easily hidden beneath the brim of my stetson. The crocs visibly shrank back, and reasonably so, seeing as for some odd reason, I was _MUCH _larger then any of them.

Finally, gathering his courage, or more likely, arrogance, the leader stepped forward and pointed his blade at me. "Oh yeah? And just who are you to order us about, guy?" I looked up at this. Did he just call me a guy? My voice wasn't that deep, and my newfound bust was fairly visible, unless that was normal for males here.

"The names AppleJack, friends call me AJ. And I ain't a guy." I tried to use the most nonchalant voice that I could muster. "Who're you?"

He grinned evilly. "Oh, so we got ourselves an oversized bitch, do we? I think we could find use for you." Oh no he didn't!

Needless to say that I was appalled at what he was suggesting, but what upset me most was that he didn't answer my question. Removing my hat, I cracked my neck and gave a nod, which was almost immediately answered by a croc being snatched from the ground and tossed into one of his comrades, downing them both, and twisting one's leg into a strange angle. And the leader was freaking out.

"Well, Gaahhh!..." He slammed his helmet on the ground. "Get her!" Without another word, I was rushed by three crocs, and I decided to let my instincts kick in. One croc, faster than the others, reached me, and swung his sword at my neck, which I ducked under with ease and planted my fist beneath his upraised arm, resulting in a yelp and a croc tumbling back clutching his side.

The next to reach me was smarted and didn't make the same mistake, rather aiming to skewer me than cut me. His jab was easily caught though, by locking the flat of the blade between my arm and my side. I wrenched the sword from his grasp with a twist of my hips, while in the same motion planting a side-kick to his chin. At least he got a little peep-show before hitting the ground, out cold.

The third must have just thought 'to hell with it', because he just charged at me with his club. With a grin, I gauged the distance, turned on my heel, balanced on my hands, and cocked both hooves back. "Falcon... _BUCK!"_ I slammed my hooves squarely into his chest and took him off his feet. He flew quite a distance before a solid thud echoed back.

Turning back to face the leader who now stood alone, his companions either incapacitated or having run off, with Rainbow Dash on his side opposite to me. "Now, hey, could we maybe talk about this?" He said while tossing his sword on the ground.

I picked up a nearby spear, while Dash did the same with two small curved daggers. "If'n ya'll can make it past the treeline in ten seconds, then your free to go. If not..." I glanced over to Dash, who simply spread her wings. "Well, ya'll get the idea."

He needed no more as he took off in the direction of the clearing, as fast as his legs would carry him. Turning back to Rainbow, it turns out that she had found a pair of sheathes on a croc, which she strapped around her hips and placed the daggers in.

"Find some new toys did ya?" She simply shrugged with a huge grin. "What can I say, they're shiny!" I couldn't help but shake my head and smile at her antics. My smile soon faded when I saw the still cowering travelers, who seemed even more afraid now than before.

"Please, what do you want?! Anything, you can have it, just don't hurt us!" I was hurt by their words, but it made some sense. The two of us did just take out a dozen bandits. I put my hands up defensively. "Don't worry, we ain't here to hurt ya. Or rob ya." I tried in my softest voice. It seemed to make them relax a little, thankfully.

Rainbow Dash's POV:

I fiddled with my new daggers while AJ talked to the merchants, as it happened they were. I was somewhat reluctant to give up the blades, I mean, is it still stealing if you take it from a thief? I did like the blades though, the handles were made of gold, while the curved and wickedly sharp blades looked like they were made of, like, silver, or something. And the jaggedly-smooth carvings on the guard reminded me of little lightning bolts.

I glanced over at the spear that AJ had slung across her back with some scrap rope. If she kept that thing, then I was keeping at least _one_ dagger. Sliding the blades into the intersecting sheathes strapped across the small of my back, I strolled over to where AppleJack was shaking hands with a goose. "What's up?"

She tossed me a proud yet somehow humble smile. "This kind gentleman has agreed to supply us with clothes and directions, in return for our troubles. If, that is, we can do him one more small favor."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She nodded and gestured to the overturned cart. "Ah, I gotcha." With a grin, and a crack of my neck, I took position on one side while AJ took the other. And, with one great heave, we flipped the wagon back onto its wheels. Once we had met up back at the front the goose ran over to us and bowed. "Oh, thank you good Masters! We are in your debt!" I glanced over at AppleJack and mouthed the word _'Masters?'_ She shrugged.

"Well, those clothes you mentioned would be mighty nice." I couldn't help but smile at her manners, mixed with firm bluntness. He seemed to just then remember what he had said and rushed around to the rear of the cart. "Oh! Of course! Please, over here." We followed without complaint to the rear tailgate of the wagon, where the merchant had dug out some clothes for us. "I'm afraid they might be a bit small, but they're better than nothing."

We simply smiled and excepted the folded bundles graciously. Once he had left us with the privacy to change, I got a good look at what the clothes were, though it did take a few guesses as to how to put them on.

I had a silver vest with midnight blue trim and some cloud designs, along with some black silk pants that came to my mid-calf. Along with these were some wrappings that kinda resembled bandages, but with some help from a nice female pig, we found out that they were to wrap our 'female parts' with, as well as our lower legs, to keep the pant-legs in place. I also had a white sash.

As for AppleJacks new rags, she had a golden vest with black trim, which coincidentally had what looked like scarlet apple designs on it. She also had brown silk pants which came to her mid-calf as well. She had a red sash as well. And, after finding that punching can hurt, she took two more wraps and wrapped her knuckles and wrists on both hands.

That, paired with her stetson, bandana and newfound spear, made her look pretty badass. And though I had to cut two holes in the back of my vest for my wings, I still looked pretty awesome as well. And the daggers strapped to my back made me look beast, if I do say so myself. I was even more excited when I found out that the loose piece of fabric on the back of my vest was, in fact, a hood! Now I looked like some badass assassin!

Once we were sure we were set, we walked back to the front of the wagon, where the merchant were conversing, drawing some gasps out of the group. The lead goose finally walked up to us once he had regained his composure. "Is there anything else that you masters require before you go?"

AppleJack nodded before asking, "Yeah, actually, there is. Could ya'll perhaps tell us where the nearest town is?" The goose nodded with a smile. "Actually, the nearest town is where you just came from." He said pointing in the direction from which we came. "It's called the Valley of Peace, home to the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior. It's about a four hour journey, but mostly flat or down hill, so not too tiring. Oh! And before I forget, take these as small tokens of our gratitude." He produced to small sack, which upon further inspection turned out to contain small golden coins. Thinner than bits, and with little squares cut out of the centers. "It should be enough for food and a room at the inn for the night."

Finally, he bowed, making a fist with one wing and placing it against the open palm of his other. Not sure what to do, we returned the gesture and smiled. Once goodbyes were exchanged, we set off on our way toward the 'Valley of Peace', at about sunset.

If everyday was gonna be like this, than this would be very interesting.


	3. When in Doubt, Order Soup

Elements of Peace

Chapter 2:

When in doubt, eat soup.

Through the eyes of Rainbow Dash:

Darkness had fully covered the Valley by the time we reached the small village. I couldn't help but stare at the moon, realizing just how different it was compared to Luna's moon. This was much bigger and less... alive. I risked a glance over at AppleJack, who was pinching her lips together quite tightly; Her look of frustration. And it was understandable, we were in a strange world, wearing weird clothes, carrying weapons, and walking toward a strange village that we'd never heard of. In the rain. To top it all off, we had just been in a fight not four hours ago. Plus it was all kinda my fault...

I'd be frustrated too if I wasn't having so much fun.

"Sooo, AJ... How're ya feeling?" I tried to put on my best smile, but it quickly dropped when she shot me a sideways glare. "Not. Now." I nodded once in understanding as I tugged my hood a little farther in front of my face. The only problem with these clothes was that they didn't do too much to keep the cold off, and our fur was noticeably thinner.

As we peaked the last, and arguably, tallest hill, we finally caught our first glimpse of the Valley of Peace. It was spacious, that's for sure, but at the same time quaint. Kinda like Ponyville when compared to Canterlot. Needless to say, I felt like I was coming home. After we stopped beneath a tree for a few moments to catch our breath, we decided that it was time to finish the home stretch. Once we came to an agreement, AJ took off sprinting down the hill, as I took wing, not far above her. Soon, it became a race. We reached the village the same time, and that's only because the rain slowed me down!

First thing that we noticed once I touched down was that it was reasonably devoid of any sign of life. Most likely because of the thunderstorm taking place, but that's just a guess. After a long while of wandering the streets wonder what in Celestia's name the building signs even said, we came to a large building that we figured was the inn, due to the picture of a bed on the sign. Eager to be relieved of the rain, we bolted in, right into the middle of a bar brawl.

I glanced at AJ as both our ears flattened from the noise. Gesturing toward the main counter, she slowly crept along the outside walls, trying to stay out of the skirmish. I followed right on her heels. And after Luna-knows-how many minutes, we arrived at the counter, relatively unfazed. Turning to the female snow leopard, who was wiping down a mug with her towel, AppleJack had to shout over the sounds of the chaos. I couldn't make out anything that was said, but after a few seconds, and the transfer of gold coins, the bar tender wrote something down on a ledger and handed AJ a key.

Once again, following Jackie, we made our way up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway, before we came to a room. She turned the key in the lock, shoving the door open, and walking in. Shutting the door behind me, I was relieved when the sounds of destruction were finally muffled. My relief ended when I saw AppleJack. There she sat, on the edge of the bed, her hat beside her with her head in her hands, weeping. Now there are very few - _VERY. FEW._ - times where I could actually say that AppleJack wept, and this took first place on that list. Not entirely too sure what to do, I simple tossed my hood back, sat on the bed, and hugged her. It took a moment, but she soon hugged me back and cried into my shoulder. _AS IF I DIDN'T FEEL GUILTY ENOUGH!_

I stroked her mane for a while as she cried, until after a while her sobs became more slow and controlled. "I never said goodbye..." I pulled my head back to look at her. "... To my family. I never told them where I was goin' or what I was doin'." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "They won't know what even happened to me!" Her shout wasn't aimed at me, I could tell, but more toward the world. Fate, whoever she felt was responsible for the turn of events. But what struck me hardest was, she was right. She might never see her family again and it was my fault, but in the entire time that we had been here, I didn't consider it once. Just because my parents couldn't give a hide-nor-tail of what became of me, didn't mean HER family was like that. Quite the opposite really.

"Let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." She nodded, but after a moment of hesitation, she planted a kiss on the cheek. "You're right. And thanks, RD." I nodded at my nickname and gave her a soft reassuring smile.

After she had recovered from her grief, we stripped and got ready for bed, and now that I got a good look at her, I had to fight with every fiber of my being to keep from getting a wing-boner. Otherwise, I'd never get to sleep. Thankfully, the night passed somewhat uneventfully, and I passed into blissful sleep.

o.00.o.00.o

Through the eyes of AppleJack:

I woke up the next mornin' at about 9am. Needless to say, Rainbow Dash was still snoozin' like a little filly. Not that it bothered me, I had gotten used to it a long time ago. I decided to let her rest a little longer, so I hopped outta bed and threw my clothes on (I had almost forgotten to do that, till I looked in a mirror.), and put mah mane up in its usual pony-tail, then did the same with mah tail. I took a look in the mirror once I was all done 'prettifyin'', and I didn't look too bad if I do say so myself.

A small groan from Dash alerted me to her wakin'. I couldn't help but smile, I had missed this. Without words, she crawled outta bed, eyes still shut, and held her arms out, as if expectin' me to dress her. I didn't complain though, as I wrapped her chest and proceeded to put her clothes on her. Luckily, she was fairly cooperative, so it wasn't too hard. By the time we were done, she was wide awake, and giddy to put her daggers on. I swear, she acted like a filly on Hearth-Warming Eve.

Once we had made sure the room was clean, and that we weren't forgettin' nothin', we left the inn. After returnin' the key, of course. As we made our way down the street, I was glad that it stopped rainin'. I seems strange, bein' somewhere where pegasi don't control the weather. The storm clouds could still be seen overhead, but again, no rain.

The rumblin' from Dash's belly reminded me that we hadn't eaten for at least a day. So we wandered around town, finally stoppin' someplace that had a poster with a goose holdin' a bowl of soup. It was my best bet that this was a restaurant. It was pretty packed, but there was one table left open so we rushed to the counter. Our weapons, and the way we dressed drew some stares, but that was normal I guess, I mean, we were a lot taller than anypon- er, anybody, there. And I realized that we weren't exactly dressed normal, most of these people were wearing fancy robe things. What did Rarity call 'em? Ki-mo-nohs? I dunno. Somethin' like that.

But we just ignored the looks we were getting' as we stepped up to the counter where we were met by a goose.

"Hello! And welcome to Ping's Noodle Shop! Home of the Secret Ingredient Soup! What would you like to order?" He gestured to a large menu behind him with a wing. Unfortunately, as previously stated, we had no idea how to read their language. So, to keep from lookin' like idiots, we just ordered two soups. After taking a seat at the last table, which was in a shadowy corner near the opening virtually unseen, it was only a few minutes before we got our food, along with a pair of sticks that we were supposed to somehow eat with.

Again, rather than look like idiots, we simply drank straight from the bowls. We were having a pleasant conversation on how, if we could recreate the double Rainboom, we might be able to get back home. However, our conversation was interrupted when some very familiar crocs entered the Noodle Shop, and made a beeline to the counter, causing everybody to run screaming from the shop. Everyone, but us, that is. The leader grabbed the goose by the neck.

"Alright guy, hand over the gold, and we'll only bloody you up a little!"

Rainbow Dash's POV:

I simply groaned, as did AppleJack, as we both stood and blocked the doorway, me pulling my hood over my head as AJ lifter her bandana to her face. "Hey now, didn't you learn your lesson last time?"

The croc dropped Mr. Ping as he slowly turned to face us. "Whoa, Gaaahhhh!" He threw his helmet on the ground again. "Darn it! What is with you two?"

I smiled as I drew my daggers and took a stance, while AJ did the same with her spear. Since there were only six crocs, this would be more even odds than last time. "You want the leader, or can I have him?" She shrugged, never taking her eyes off the bandits. "Ya'll can have him if ya want."

I cracked my neck once. "Yay." With that I charged with a flap of my wings, propelling me forward faster than they could react. Just using my wing like a club, I took out two, leaving only the leader besides the three that AJ was 'playing' with. "Miss me?" He just stared wide-eyed, before shaking his head and bracing himself for a beating. One which I was happy to give.

In the end, I don't know why everybody was so afraid, I mean, these guys were pathetic! But just as we finished tying them together with some loose rope that Mr. Ping gave us, six people showed up. A tiger, a viper, a crane, a monkey, a mantis, and a panda. I realized right away, that the tiger was the only person we had seen thus far that was dressed like us, and she looked like a fighter. She was muscular, almost to the point that I mistook her for a guy, but she wasn't a muscular as AppleJack. Not by far. I was actually impressed, until she opened her mouth.

"You two, stop right there, you're under arrest!" Instantly, all respect just died. I raised a hand. "Um, you mean them, right?" I gestured to the crocs. " 'Cause, we're the ones that did the work, they did the robbing." I flexed my wings. Not in an attempt to gain attention, but out of discomfort. Unfortunately, the action did not go unnoticed, as five of the six drew back in either fear or disgust. The panda however just stared. "That, is... _awesome!"_ I smirked at the comment, he sounded almost like me.

Again, the tiger killed the mood. "What kind of demon are you?" That hurt, and AJ obviously took offense.

"Hey now! I don't know just ya think ya'll are, but ya'll better take that back! RD's the nicest pony ya'll probably ever know!" She was now only inches from the tiger's face, bending down to look at her. "She ain't no demon, she's a Pegasus. Ain't ya'll ever seen one before?" And seeing as how she managed to crack her knuckles just by clenching her fists, I'd say that she was demanding an answer. But I decided to cut in before this came to blows.

"AppleJack, please, I'm sure she meant no offense. They've probably have never heard of Pegasi, much less seen one." The tiger did a good job of hiding any expression, but her eyes obviously showed that she was worried. Thankfully, AJ backed down, crossing her arms unhappily. "You'd still best apologize." She said before slipping into an aggressive silence.

The viper was the first to move after an extremely awkward silence. "I'm sorry, we're obviously not making the best first impression." She bowed her head slightly. "I'm Master Viper, and this is Master Tigress, Master Crane, Master Monkey, Master Mantis, and this is the Dragon Warrior, Po." She named each of the masters off while pointing to them respectively, ending with the panda. She then gestured to us. "And you are?" She still wore that sincere, if not uncomfortable smile.

After a shared glance, AppleJack removed her bandana while I lowered my hood, drawing multiple gazes to my multi-colored mane, and introduced us. "I'm AppleJack Apple, and this beautiful mare which you _insulted..._" She tossed a glare at Tigress while gesturing to me. "Is Rainbow Dash."

Viper nodded with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Now Tigress, I do believe you owe Rainbow Dash an apology." Her smile was warm but her tone was no-nonsense. With a low growl, the tiger placed a fist in her palm and bowed. "I.. apologize, for... insulting, you.." I seriously think that it was literally killing her to say that. But I clapped a hand to her shoulder anyway and smirked. "It's not a prob. It's understandable." AJ didn't seem satisfied with the apology, but she let it go anyway.

Finally the panda, Po, couldn't contain himself anymore, as he ran up to me and was literally bouncing with excitement. "Wow! A Pegasus, I've never heard of them but they sound cool! Are your wings real? Did you dye your hair or is it always like that? Where did the two of you train? How-" "Po!" He was cut off by Viper, meanwhile I couldn't stop thinking about how much he reminded me of Pinkie Pie. AppleJack's spirits seemed to lighten up as well.

After shaking my head for a second, I answered. "Yes, my wings are real, no my mane is always like this, the two of us didn't, train, really..." I figured he was talking about fighting, luckily I was right because Tigress raised a hand. "Wait, you expect us to believe that you never learned how to fight, but you still took out six crocs?" She gave us a disbelieving look.

AJ shrugged. "We took out a dozen last night." She uncrossed her arms, putting her hands on her hips. "And no, it's just somethin' ya learn overtime when ya live next to the Everfree." "It's true!" Mr. Ping piped up from the kitchen. "Dad?" The panda said, making me do a double-take.

"Now Po, I may not know much about Kung fu, but I do know a bit about street boxing." Tigress surprised us all with what she said next. "What's street boxing?"

AppleJack shrugged and sighed. "It's a non-professional fightin' style, not considered a 'true' martial art. Mostly because it has no specific technique. You can incorporate just 'bout anythin' into street boxing." She explained. I smirked. "That's why it's so useful. In street boxing, you can't truly predict your opponent." This seemed to make the tiger curious. "Could you teach me?" Another double-take as me and AJ exclaimed "WHAT?!" at the same time.

Tigress explained. "You'll have to come with us anyway to give a full report to master Shifu, so you might as well." After a moment of silence, AppleJack looked at me questioningly, to which I shrugged and nodded. "Fine." She said with an absolute nod. "I'll do it."


End file.
